Tag Archives: magnets

You can choose to adorn your desk with an almost infinite number of trinkets, but we beg of you to ignore the Newton’s Cradles, or the Lavalamps, or even the decorative Rolodexes of old, and consider the Colourful Ferrofluid In a Bottle instead. Ferrofluid is a thick liquid that is mixed in with nano-scale iron particles. It doesn’t mix with water and tends to clump together. But in the presence of a magnet, the liquid comes to life. You can delight yourself and your guests, for at least 30 whole seconds, with the shapes the liquid will take inside the bottle. You can even “double your fun” by using two magnets. It’s a fun tabletop toy that costs $60.

We’re not sure it’s ever smart to spend a large chunk of change on a toy, but if you have $170 burning a hole in your pocket, the Iron Man Mark II Special Floating Edition sure looks cool. It’s part of the Egg Attack series, and floats in mid-air thanks to a combination of attracting and repulsing magnets.

True to the key features of the Egg Attack series, Iron Man’s every detail is meticulously crafted, including the armor, joints, and flying mode air deflector. The Iron Man 3 Mark II Magnetic floating version’s main body is painted with high-quality metal coating, showcasing Mark II’s steel-like armor. High-luminance LED light is hidden within the eye, chest reactor, and feet, which stays true to the night flying mode in the Iron Man movie.

Once again showcasing how we definitely do live in the first world, the BottleLoft is a device specifically designed to make more room in your fridge for beer. Because a full fridge is a problem, in some parts, and making room for beer is definitely an essential necessity. Ok… we’re only being a little bit sarcastic, because we actually do like beer and think this is a pretty cool device. It uses Neodymium magnets to hold on to your bottle caps, attaches to the “ceiling” of your fridge using a special 3M tape and can hold up to 88lbs under ideal conditions. That should be many times more than enough to hold 6 beers, so we’re giving the BottleLoft a hearty thumbs up. Especially at the $39 pledge pricing.

Ever on the lookout for unique and innovative furniture, we’re intrigued by Rock Paper Robot’s Float Table. It’s made from a matrix of wooden cubes with strong magnets embedded within. The magnetic forces repel the cubes from one another, but a series of steel guide wires keep everything in place. This gives the table a solid appearance while undisturbed, and a wobbly look when touched. We’re not sure how stable a table it is, and placing a wine glass down on it might be a dicey proposition. But it sure is a talking piece that anyone with money will be more than happy to have in his living quarters. We say ‘people with money’ because it’s one of those pieces with no advertised price, placing it squarely in the “if you have to ask” camp.

Edit: A reader informs us that the table is $10,000 and is available here.

This is as old as the world… if the world was magically created in 2008. Still, we stumbled on them, and thought you’d like them. Not going to spend much time on it. Hit the jump for another pic and purchase info.

You know it’s the future when America has a black president, Oprah isn’t on anymore and stuff is levitating all over the place. This lamp is yet another example. Look closely at the picture above (or play the video below) and you’ll notice the upper section of this lamp isn’t attached to anything. It’s called Silhouette #1 and will cost you 1,000 Euros. For that price you get a lot of levitation but not that much lighting, as the LED based lamp puts out a puny 300lux.

Well actually, we’re not really sure if 300 lux is a lot of not. We just assumed it isn’t. Any engineers in the crowd?

Insane Clown Posse might have had a point all along. Check out the above video and have fun picking up your jaw off the floor. It shows what the science types are calling quantum levitation, and is allegedly taking place in Tel Aviv, at an ASTC (Association of Science and Technology Centers) event. Now folks, this stuff is nothing new. It involves superconducting magnets, liquid nitrogen and supposedly an effect called flux pinning. It’s now apparently being called quantum levitation because frankly, it’s attention grabbing. But to be honest, no one is really thinking about the science behind this. It’s the video, guys. Just check out the video. And we know what you’re thinking.

Almost exactly two years ago we talked about the BuckyBalls. They were a set of 216 tiny rare earth magnets that could be arranged in any number of entertaining ways. Fast forward two years and the innovation is that the spheres are now cubes and there are 125 of them. If you’ve already played with BuckyBalls, maybe this isn’t a big deal. But if you’re new to the “Bucky” scene, you should check out the above video. The flat sides allow you to slide and stack them in new ways, not to mention make you feel nostalgic for the Tetris days of yore.

In all fairness and having played with several sets of Buckyballs myself, I must say this: they are entertaining, but don’t go thinking they are easy to play with at first. Anything you see in the video took a good deal of preparation, not to mention ingenuity that (let’s face it) you likely don’t have. I know I didn’t. Still, for $25, it’s a fun and different way of passing some time. And even better, if you ingest a few, a geeky way to land yourself in the ER.

OhGizmo! is a frequently updated blog that focuses on covering items that will appeal to a very specific and often very passionate audience: the geek. Aside from the fare of innovative consumer electronic products, the reader can expect to find news about geek culture, absurd inventions, awe inspiring technology, and an ever growing assortment of articles that we like to think fit within our view of what we’re calling the Geek Lifestyle.